I am Caroline Stikkelbroeck, owner and operator of Dark Ride, an online jewelry shop. Dark Ride features multi-media assemblages made from antiqued metals, waxed cotton, leather, vintage glass and my not so secret vice, Czech glass.

I’ve always been a crafty gal, but my excursion into jewellery making stems more from a desire to collect than to create. It really is all about the glass for me. For this reason, my work encompasses many styles – Bohemian, rustic, Victorian, industrial and minimalist, to name a few. I go where the glass takes me.

I’m particularly enamoured with Czech glass with Picasso finishes. This is an additional process that sees a finished bead splashed, dipped or painted with another application of glass and re-fired. Since this additional process touches each bead in a different way, a Picasso finish ensures a diversity of texture, color and sparkle that makes each individual bead, even within the same series, unique.